News
SHOC member Imma Petito defends PhD
On Wednesday 10 June, Imma Petito successfully defended her PhD on the relations between the Kingdom of England and Italian polities in the later Middle Ages.
SHOC-member Leonie Vanlerberghe leads workshop on Gender in Personal documents
SHOC member Leonie Vanlerberghe recently led an engaging workshop on “Gender in Personal Documents” at the Spring Conference of the Royal Netherlands Historical Society (KNHG), together with Stefan Kras (history teacher and PhD researcher) and Jessie Baerts (Master student Gender and Diversity Ghen...
VACANCY DOCOTRAL RESEARCHER: FLOWS IN THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR. URBAN-ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORIES OF LABOUR, MATERIALS, AND MONEY
We are looking for 2 doctoral candidates to conduct research on the Brussels construction sector as a nexus of labour, materials, and capital, from the nineteenth century to the present.
SHOC celebrates third birthday with lecture by Andreas Malm
Last Tuesday, 19 May, SHOC celebrated its third anniversary with an inspiring lecture by Prof. Andreas Malm (Lund University).
SHOC team wins VUB staff quiz!
Quiz champions! Once again, our SHOC members showed they’re experts in more than just history at the annual VUB staff quiz.
TVO students present their posters on Faculty research day
On 26 May, the Faculty Research Day @VUB brought together PhD students from the Faculty of Languages and Humanities for a full day of exchange, inspiration and academic discovery. It was a great opportunity to connect with fellow researchers and explore each other’s work.
New article by SHOC member Brent Huygh
SHOC member Brent Huygh has published his first academic article, titled "Commercialisation from below: the Brussels gateway roads in the eighteenth century", in the History of Retailing and Consumption. Click here to read the publication. Abstract During the early modern per...
Call for Papers: People on the Move in Late Medieval Europe
SHOC member Bart Lambert is guest editing a special issue of the peer‑reviewed, Web of Science–indexed journal Histories on late medieval human mobility.
Vacancy: Doctoral Researcher in the History of Midwifery
1 – Working at Vrije Universiteit Brussel For more than 50 years, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel has stood for freedom, equality and solidarity, and this is very much alive on our campuses among students and staff alike.
Foragency's second podcast series: The Foragers: Engagements beyond the Human
Following the success of the podcast series ‘Introducing Foraging: a podcast in environmental humanities ’, which ran from 25 November 2024 to 16 December 2024, the team behind the Foragency project is delighted to announce a new podcast series, which will run for the next four weeks.
'Wereldsteden van de Lage Landen: Stadsgeschiedenis van Nederland en België' nominated for the Kleio Class Prize 2026!
In March 2025, the book “World Cities of the Low Countries: Urban History of the Netherlands and Belgium” was published, in which various authors, including SHOC historians Anne Winter and Klaas Van Gelder, wrote about fifty cities that were pre-eminently world cities.
Portrait of SHOC colleague Nel de Mûelenaere in the exhibition “Women shaping Science”
Female scientists make a difference every day — in research, policy and society. With “Women Shaping Science”, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel is putting them in the spotlight through a powerful photo exhibition.
Among Fellows and Footnotes: Bart Lambert in Cambridge
From January to April, our colleague Bart Lambert is a Visiting Fellow at Clare Hall, University of Cambridge — one of Cambridge’s institutes for advanced study, dedicated to supporting postgraduate researchers and international scholars.
Registration for the international conference 'Studying Non-Elites in the Medieval Caucasus' is now open!
The SHOC Research Group at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, in association with the Medieval Caucasus Network and the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research, is happy to announce that registration for the international conference 'Studying Non-Elites in the Medieval Caucasus' is open.
New article by SHOC member Rein Vander Hulst!
Another publication, another reason for SHOC to be proud—congratulations to Rein Vander Hulst! Rein has recently published a new article "Military Justice in the Field: Law, Order and Violence in the Prosecutors’ Archives of Belgian Colonial Troops at ‘War’".
SHOC welcomes new PhD student Jens Van Mieghem!
Jens studied History at Ghent University (2025), with a focus on the Early Modern period. He wrote his Master’s thesis on local police regulations in Ghent in 1581-87, during and after the Calvinist Republic of Ghent.
SHOC member Bob Pierik wins the Prof. Van Winter Award 2025 for best local or regional history book in the Netherlands.
On Thursday 22 January, the Prof. Van Winterprijs 2025 was awarded to SHOC member Bob Pierik during the Award Day of the Koninklijk Nederlands Historisch Genootschap in Utrecht.
Call for sessions/papers & workshops: Ctrl-Alt-History – (Digital)Humanities meets AI
On 29 April 2026, the Belgian Association for Contemporary History (BVNG-ABHC) organises the Dag van de Nieuwste Geschiedenis – Journée de l’Histoire Contemporaine, in collaboration with the University of Antwerp .
New FORAGENCY publication by SHOC member Thijs Costers: “Banana beer in Belgian Burundi: a social metabolist history of intoxication (1916–1962)”
New FORAGENCY publication: “Banana beer in Belgian Burundi: a social metabolist history of intoxication (1916–1962)” In this exciting open access paper published in the Journal of Eastern African Studies , FORAGENCY PhD candidate Thijs Costers traces the ways in which colon...
Three new FWO projects for SHOC!
We’re thrilled to announce that three members of the SHOC research group have secured funding in this year’s FWO/Research Foundation–Flanders project competition.
Events
Practical info23/01/2026 - 09:30 - 23/01/2026 - 12:30SHOC colleague Reinout Vander Hulst on Missionaries in Congo
This Friday, 23 January 2026, SHOC colleague Reinout Vander Hulst will give a presentation entitled "Missionaries and Violence", which is taking place as part of a series of lectures organised by MoSa and KADOC, focusing on the history of Protestant and Catholic missionaries in colonial and postc
Practical info11/02/2026 - 19:00 - 11/02/2026 - 20:45The Foragers #4 - Film Screening: Neptune Frost (2021)
Practical info16/02/2026 - 10:30 - 16/02/2026 - 12:00SHOC seminar with Stephan Strunz
Air, Alleys, and Affection: The Politics of the Housing Survey between Basel, Liège, and Berlin
This paper traces the emergence, circulation, and transformation of a survey method that gained prominence at the end of the nineteenth century through the interplay between the Belgian traditi
Practical info25/02/2026 - 17:00 - 25/02/2026 - 19:30Book launch with SHOC member Jolien Gijbels - Consent: A history of coercion and free will and everything in between
It was only a few weeks ago that SHOC had the honour of presenting the new publication of "Consent:
Practical info09/03/2026 - 10:30 - 09/03/2026 - 12:00SHOC seminar with Thomas Rommel (Vrije Universiteit Brussel - CLIC)
Intertextuality and The Wealth of Nations : Contextualizing Adam Smith
In 1776 Adam Smith, the by-then famous author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments
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Practical info13/03/2026 - 09:00 - 14/03/2026 - 21:00
First International Conference of the Medieval Caucasus Network: Studying Non-Elites in the Medieval Caucasus
Practical info23/03/2026 - 10:30 - 23/03/2026 - 12:00SHOC seminar with Hannes Ziegler (Technische Universität Dresden)
What was the State? Officiating and Litigating in Early Modern England
Research into early modern state-building has developed quite a bit over the past decades, lending more depth and complexity to such processes.
Practical info31/03/2026 - 18:00 - 31/03/2026 - 20:00Art effects: sensory education in uncertain times
South African professor Premesh Lalu gives a lecture about The Herds, a groundbreaking public art and climate initiative designed to inspire action and renew our bond with the natural world.
Practical info27/04/2026 - 10:30 - 27/04/2026 - 12:00SHOC seminar with Katja Bruisch (Trinity College Dublin)
Burning Swamps: Peat and the Forgotten Margins of Russia’s Fossil Economy
What happens if we tell the history of the planetary emergency from the margins?
Practical info19/05/2026 - 18:00 - 19/05/2026 - 20:00Lecture by Prof. Dr. Andreas Malm (Lund University): "The Political Ecology of Charlemagne – Or, What, If Anything, Is Special about Capitalism?"
